JEMISON METALS RECEIVES INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION

(Birmingham, AL) —Birmingham-based Jemison Metals was named Physical Metals Service
Provider of the Year by S&P Global Platts at an event held in London. S&P Global Platts is a
leading global energy, metals and commodities information provider, and their annual awards
event recognizes exemplary performance in 15 categories spanning the entire steel, metals and
mining complex.

The independent panel of judges credited Jemison Metals with “leveraging technology in
innovative new ways to improve productivity for customers.” Jemison enjoys a 99% customer
retention rate, 98% on-time delivery rate, and has grown its market share by 17.7%. This
growth and retention performance is a testament to Jemison’s cornerstones; on-time, highquality,
in-stock, and personal service. With entrants from 18 countries, the Platts award is one
of the most respected in the industry

“Winning an award on the international stage is always an honor” said Pete Heinke, Jemison
Metals CEO, “but this one is particularly meaningful because it recognizes innovations we made
on behalf of our customers, toward enhancing their experience. Our strength lies in our ability to
work in unison with our clients to optimize their supply chain and drive out waste wherever it
hides. The processes and best practices we develop support that effort. We’re more like a
supply chain company that happens to be in the steel business.”

Jemison Metals is a leading provider of carbon flat-rolled products. Jemison has a 125 team members, in 5
facilities within four states including; Alabama, Virginia, Ohio, and South Carolina.
Visit jemisonmetals.com

S&P Global Platts is a division of S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI), which provides essential intelligence for
individuals, companies and governments to make decisions with confidence. For more information,
visit www.platts.com.

July 2016

JEMISON METALS RECOGNIZED BY NATIONAL AWARDS FOR STEEL EXCELLENCE

(Birmingham, AL) —Birmingham-based Jemison Metals has been recognized by the American Metal Market at
the national Awards for Steel Excellence . At the annual convention in New York, Jemison was named Most
Outstanding Service Center.

Nominees were judged according to a variety of criteria including customer retention rates, customer service initiatives, technological innovations, operational improvements, and sales performance over the previous year.

From the American Metal Market: “(Jemison’s) retention and customer satisfaction goes beyond industry standards and calls attention to its ability to provide value added services to customers, such as seamless service and execution through contract management technology; extensive industry knowledge and experience; effect cost-saving initiatives; supply chain optimization and competitive, transparent pricing; and strategic purchasing programs.”

“Our team has planned for and pursued elite customer satisfaction for many years,” said Pete Heinke, CEO at Jemison Metals. “Our baseline of operational efficiency allows us to focus on developing innovations that affect our customers’ bottom lines. Being honored for it at the national level is certainly gratifying and is the result of each and every team member in our company making a priority of customer relationships. We are grateful for those loyal relationships, and we’ll continue to work to earn their loyalty.”

Jemison Metals is a leading provider of carbon flat-rolled products.
Jemison Metals has 125 team members and in four states. With 412,000 square feet of warehouse space, Jemison has facilities in Birmingham, Gadsden, and Decatur, AL, Lynchburg, VA, Cleveland, OH, and Sumter, SC.
Visit jemisonmetals.com.

Jemison-Demsey, LLC d/b/a Jemison Metals Birmingham, Alabama, has entered into a definitive
agreement to purchase the assets of the Lynchburg Virginia facility of O’Neal Flat Rolled Metals,
Brighton CO. The transaction is scheduled to close on or before December 31, 2015.

“All of us at Jemison Metals are extremely excited with the opportunity the
Lynchburg operation presents Jemison to grow our business and expand our
geographic footprint. We see the Mid-Atlantic area as an important and growing
market in the metals sector and we are committed to building on the excellent
reputation O’Neal Flat Rolled Metals has earned in their many years of serving this
market. With that said, we want to emphasize that our immediate interest is to
provide the existing Lynchburg customers, suppliers and employees with the
confidence that Jemison Metals will be a good business partner. Our highest
priority is to earn their trust and respect through our unwavering commitment to
service excellence and by creating a “great place to work” for all of our
employees.”

Temper Mill vs. Stretcher Leveler (Cut to Length Lines)

Temper Mill cut to length lines and Stretcher Leveler cut to length lines have both been successfully utilized in applications where superior flatness and stability are required. Typically these applications include lasers, plasmas, or punch presses. When operated properly, both processes provide sheets/plates with minimal residual stress; however, the mechanisms to achieve this low residual stress state are different.

This article will discuss only one of the many Temper Mill uses; to improve shape in conjunction with a roller leveler on a cut to length line.

Temper mills work the sheet/plate material utilizing compression. The material thickness is compressed and elongated in the rolling direction. However, as temper mills do not have selective roll-bending across the strip width, a roller leveler must be used subsequent to the temper mill to create the final sheet/plate flatness and to correct for any remaining shape defects (coil set, edge wave, center buckle etc). Additionally, it is important that the incoming material “crown” profile (thicker center and thinner edges) match the temper mill roll profile, otherwise shape defects can be induced.

In applications where superior flatness and stability are required, temper mill cut lines have provided superior product to “roller leveler only” product and have been generally accepted as suitable for these applications. It is important to note that temper cut lines do not evenly exceed the yield strength of the material through the full thickness of the material (a gradient of multiple yield strains to zero exists from the surface to the centerline) and that the roller leveling that occurs after “tempering” actually introduces some residual stresses into the strip to create final sheet/plate flatness. Maximum shape correction is limited only by the % reduction capability of the temper mill (typically in the 2%-3% or 2000-3000 i-unit range); however, in practical application the specific order minimum gauge may limit the amount of correction allowed.

Stretcher Levelers

Modern stretcher levelers have gained acceptance in applications requiring minimal residual stress. In these applications, stretcher levelers have provided superior product to “roller leveler only” product and have been generally accepted as suitable for these applications.

Although some stretcher levelers have a flattener installed prior to stretching, it is beneficial to have a roller leveler installed prior to stretching in order to adequately remove crossbow (width-wise surface to surface length differential). This is important because the stretching portion of the process improves only length-wise shape defects (coil set, edge wave, center buckle, camber).

During the stretch cycle, the machine grips the steel and plastically deforms/stretches along the entire stretch length. This stretching is similar to the stretching associated with a tensile test. The plastic deformation is performed under tension vs the compression utilized by a temper mill. The yield strength of the steel is exceeded across the entire cross section of the material, which provides an “equalized” stress state in the sheet/plate. Additionally, the stress equalization process is the last process to occur prior to shearing so no further residual stresses are induced. One of the other benefits of stretcher leveling is that camber can be improved during the stretching process.

Maximum shape correction of a stretcher leveler is limited by two things. First, the width-wise shape correction (crossbow) is limited by the roller leveler horsepower and separating force. Second, the length-wise shape correction is limited by the % elongation maximum of the stretcher (hydraulic cylinder stroke ÷ stretch length, typically in the 2% or 2000 i-unit range). As with the temper mill above, in practical application the specific order minimum gauge may limit the amount of correction allowed.

“Temper Pass” Required

There are multiple reasons to specify temper passed material. In some cases the need for temper pass may be generic in nature and stretcher leveled product is comparable, while in some cases it is not. Table 1 below lists the typical end user reasons for specifying temper pass and if stretcher leveled product is an acceptable alternative.

Table 1: Typical End User reasons for specifying Temper Pass and if Stretcher Leveled Product is a comparable alternative.

Reason for Temper Pass Requirement (End User)

Stretcher Leveled Acceptable?

Notes

Shape/Flatness

Yes

Minimal Residual Stress (Stability)

Yes

Coil Break Prevention

Yes*

*If the Stretch Leveler Line has the appropriate coil break prevention equipment

Table 2: Comparison of some of the benefits & limitations of the three main leveling technologies.

Roller Leveler Only

Temper Mill/Leveler

Leveler/Stretcher

Shape Improvement Method

Bending/Unbending (Alternating tension/compression)

Mainly Compression via the temper mill

Mainly Tension via the stretcher

Capital Cost

Low

High

Medium

Operating Speed

High

High

Medium

Coil Set Improvement

Yes

Yes

Yes

Cross Bow Improvement

Yes

Yes

Yes

Edge Wave & Center Buckle Improvement

Yes

Yes

Yes

Surface Roughness Modification

No

Yes

No

Camber Improvement

No

Some

Yes

Twist Improvement

No

Some

Yes

Flatness Potential

< 5 i-Units

< 5 i-Units

< 5 i-Units

Shape Improvement Potential

< 200 i-Units

2000 i-Units +1

2000 i-Units +1

Residual Stress (Stability)

Low-Medium

High (Better width-wise stability)

High (Better Length-Wise Stability)

1 The shape improvement potential of temper mills and stretcher levelers are line specific and dependent upon design capacities. These values are given as a reference relative to typical roller levelers for comparison purposes.

The link below is a May 2013 article from Modern Metals entitled “Upgrade to flat material”. It discusses stretch leveling vs temper mill cut to length lines from the viewpoint of a service center that operates both types of lines.

Peter Heinke

Chief Executive Officer

“I don’t believe we have a corner on the market for smart people. There are lots of companies with lots of smart people. But what we do have is a group that asks smart questions and has the intellectual drive to dig a little deeper to find things others miss, because they fail to look.”

Dave Pratt

Executive Vice President - Materials & Operations

In the metals industry since 1981.

Education: University of Kentucky – BS, Biology.

“Personal service, quality metals, in-stock, and on-time is the foundation. You have to have a solid foundation. But, we believe customers should expect more. Winning bids is about doing more than is expected and doing it consistently.”

Point of pride: The honesty and integrity found in measurable results.

Randy Richards

Vice President of Operations

In the metals industry since 1981.

“This is the metals business. Steel and fluff don’t mix. Customers come to us for a lower cost on the spec they have to have. They don’t have any wiggle room with their customers, so they can’t afford to have any with their suppliers. We get that. We get that from corner office to the plant floor.”

“The better we understand a customer’s exact engineering needs, the better we can help them find cost reductions. So often, the questions that could lead to breakthrough reductions are left unanswered because the service center fails to ask. At Jemison, we ask.”

Christopher Sweet

Executive Vice President - Business Development

In the metals industry since 2000.

Education: Samford University - BS, Business Management.

“Added value and four dollars and seventy-five cents will get you a pumpkin spice latte. That means added value isn’t worth anything if it does not subtract cost. Subtracting cost is where the sale starts for us.”

Joe Ross Merritt

Vice President Commercial

In the metals industry since 2008.

Education: Samford University - BS, Business Management.

“Added value and four dollars and seventy-five cents will get you a pumpkin spice latte. That means added value isn’t worth anything if it does not subtract cost. Subtracting cost is where the sale starts for us.”

Vice President North Region

Craig Mathiason

President & Chief Operating Officer

In the metals industry since 1994.

Education: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – BA; Washington University, Olin School of Business – Strategic Metals Management.

“I don’t believe sales is about selling. It’s about finding and making. Finding the points of hidden waste in the supply chain and making a difference in a customer’s bottom line. It’s only a great relationship if it’s real and it’s measurable.”